As the nation continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government must bolster its efforts to understand how state and local organizations that tackle sexual and domestic violence have been impacted to better inform future financial support, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) said during a roundtable discussion held last week.
“The harsh reality is that during these challenging times, Americans at the greatest risk for such violence have lost access to the resources that are often vital to escaping abuse,” Rep. Joyce said. “We must continue to improve our response to this pandemic, including efforts to combat crimes of sexual and domestic violence, provide survivors with access to the resources they need, and bring perpetrators to justice.”
Rep. Joyce joined his fellow co-chairs of the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence in hosting the virtual roundtable to address how COVID-19 and racial disparities are impacting the organizations that work to combat sexual and domestic violence, and to learn how their challenges are preventing survivors from accessing necessary care and support services, according to the congressman’s office.
For instance, Rep. Joyce asked the roundtable panelists about how the rape kit backlog disproportionally impacts minority communities and what types of policies could be pursued on the federal level to provide victims with justice, according to his staff, which said hundreds of thousands of rape kits are estimated to sit untested in crime lab storage facilities across the country.
“That is unacceptable,” Rep. Joyce said. “I know that healing from these terrible crimes is not a linear process for survivors — it’s often a lifelong progression. But as a former prosecutor, I also know that bringing one’s assailant to justice can play an important role in this process.”
Rep. Joyce also noted that his home state of Ohio has made a lot of progress at the local level in reducing the rape kit backlog, “but much work remains to be done.”